The Fine Art of Falling
by Blue Roses
Summary: With Voldemort on the loose, changes happen, and some of the Beauxbatons students are sent to Hogwarts. One of the students becomes friends with Harry, and brings to light some feelings which Harry would rather have kept secret. *slash*
1. Default Chapter

The Fine Art of Falling (in Love) ****

The Fine Art of Falling (in Love)

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Chapter 1: Meetings and Beginnings

With Voldemort on the loose, changes happen, and some of the Beauxbatons students are sent to Hogwarts. One of the students especially becomes friends with Harry, and brings to light some feelings which Harry would rather have kept secret. This will be slash in later chapters, so be warned.

The first part of the title, The Fine Art of Falling, is a boysetsfire song, which is really good. I love them, they're brilliant. 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter universe. 

***

When Harry and everyone else piled out of the train which had arrived at Hogwarts, they were greeted with even more confusion than usual. As well as the crowds of pupils trying to catch up on what everyone else had done, or outdo each other with 'holidays from hell' stories, there seemed to be another group of students, wearing a different set of robes, and looking rather cold. They were Beauxbatons students Harry realised, recognising the uniforms and pointing them out to Hermione and Ron. Ron was struggling with the large bag his mother had insisted he take, but looked up at the mention of the new students.

Harry saw Hagrid by the edge of the lake, and tried to signal him to ask what was going on. Hagrid didn't spot him, as he was too concerned with herding the first years together, and at the same time trying to catch the attention of Madame Maxime, the headmistress of Beauxbatons.

"We'll find out what's happening when we get to school" said Hermione, who was trying to persuade Crookshanks to behave, but failing, which didn't help her temper. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore will tell us, so if we hurry up we might find out sooner."

She surged ahead, and Ron and Harry followed, finding it hard to keep up on the wet grass. It didn't help that they were trying to look at the Beauxbatons students at the same time, remembering the lovely Fleur Delacour, the Veela who had visited for the Triwizard tournament. They knew she wouldn't be there, since she would have left the school the year before, but they looked anyway, thinking that there might be another girl as lovely as she had been.

Unfortunately, before they had got very far, Ron managed to trip over Draco Malfoy's feet, spilling some of the contents of his large bag. 

By the time the two of them had exchanged their ritual insults, it had started to rain, and they were all soaked and very glad of the warmth when they arrived at school. The sorting seemed to go more quickly than they remembered, although most of the pupils spent it wondering what the Beauxbatons students were doing there.

Professor Dumbledore stood up at the end of the sorting to explain. "As many of you have noticed, we have with us a large number of students from Beauxbatons. This is because their school was attacked over the holidays, and has been destroyed. We don't know who was responsible, but with Voldemort around we can't be too careful. Hogwarts and some of the other magical schools have volunteered to take some of the Beauxbatons students whilst their school is rebuilt, and we find out who was responsible for destroying it. I am sure you will all be as welcoming as possible, and we will all try to overcome any difficulties that may arise. I have assigned a number of the Beauxbatons students to each house, so that we are not too cramped, and I hope all you who have been here for a while will help the students to settle in and find their way around. Thank you all"

There was a hum in the hall when he finished talking, as everyone talked about what he had said. The holidays had been quite uneventful, and people were saying that Voldemort obviously hadn't risen after all, so this came as a bit of a shock. Some people wondered why they hadn't heard about it in 'Wizards' Weekly', but all speculation was stopped as the food arrived, and they started to eat.

**

When they got to the Griffindor tower Professor McGonagall was looking slightly annoyed, and waved both of them over. "New policy for this year." She said, "You're in smaller dorms anyway, because you're higher up in the school, and we're having one Beauxbatons student in each room. Ron and Harry, you're together in room six, and Hermione, you're in room eight. You'll see who you room mates are when you get there, I don't have time to read them out." she turned to the next group of students who were coming up, and Harry, Ron and Hermione were left to find their rooms. 

Harry entered the room first, and was surprised to see someone already there, sitting on one of the three beds, and looking out of the window. He looked up as Harry came into the room, and smiled. Harry was rather surprised to see that his hair was in spikes, and died an unlikely combination of blue and black. The light shone on his face. He looked - nice, harry decided. When he spoke, it was in perfect English, with only a slight trace of a French accent. "Hi, I'm Ben, I'm from Beauxbatons. You're my new room mates, right?"

"Yeah, hi, I'm Ron" said Ron, who had followed Harry into the room. He was staring pointedly at Ben's hair, and Harry was worried that he was going to make an unfortunate comment on it, so he quickly started talking.

"I'm Harry. It's nice to meet you. I like your hair, it's really original. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen anyone with hair like it."

"Really? Well, you obviously haven't been going to the right places" said Ben with a smile which took the sting out of his words "I'm a punk. There's quite a good scene here in London, it's big enough to attract some good bands. I came over in the holidays to stay with my father. He and my mother are divorced, I live with her in France most of the time, but in the holidays I like to come over and see my Dad. I lived here for a while when I was young."

"That must be why you speak such good English" said Harry, sitting on one of the beds and claiming it as him.

"I'm bilingual, I speak both" said Ben "we have to do another language at school anyway. Lots of people did magical languages, but most of the ones who did English got sent here. There's a few people who don't speak it here, though, I feel sorry for them. Anyway, what's Hogwarts like, are the teachers alright?"

"Some of them aren't, Snape, for instance, watch out for him, he teaches potions." said Ron, a frown on his face as he remembered all the things Snape had done to them. "Some of them aren't so bad. Are you going to be having lessons with us?"

"I think so. I've got my timetable here, let's have a look."

They compared timetables, and found that Ben was in all their classes except Divination, when he did Arithmacy.

"Hermione does that" said Ron "You'll meet her later. She's a good friend of ours, and she's really good at homework. Sometimes I think she's obsessed with it."

"Not everyone hates work as much as you do, Ron" interjected Harry, playfully. "You will like Hermione, though, Ben, she's really nice."

"We should go and see her now, before someone comes around to check whether we're available to help with something" said Ron "You know how things always go wrong on the first day of term. Lets go and see how everyone else is, then we can get out of being volunteered to help some first year find their luggage. We can introduce you to everyone at the same time, Ben."

Harry and Ben agreed, and they all walked out of the room pleased about the new friendships they were making. Hermione, when she met Ben was as taken with him as Ron and Harry were, but she had to rush off and help her two roommates, who were both from Beauxbatons, to settle into their room. The boys spent the time talking to the Griffindors who had congregated in the common room until they were chased out of it by one of the teachers.

***

The first class of the first day of term was, unfortunately, potions. They had four Beauxbatons students in their class as well as the Griffindors and the Slytherins. Snape was looking as mean as ever, and Harry felt sorry for the poor Beauxbatons student who couldn't speak English, and her friend, who had to translate for her. Both of them got many evil glares from Snape, and complaints about interrupting the lesson.

The lesson itself wasn't too bad for Harry and Ron, who had been in the class the year before. Ben found he hadn't covered some of the work they had done, so would have to make it up by himself. He didn't seem to mind too much, though, and they all got through the lesson without any points being deducted from Griffindor, which was something of a miracle. 

As usual, Draco Malfoy threw some nasty remarks at them, Ron in particular, but they weren't quite up to his usual standard. "Perhaps he's warming up" said Harry "getting ready to be really nasty later in the term." He explained to Ben about how they hated each other, but Ben didn't seem to understand how it had all begun.

When the lesson ended, Hermione rushed over to the two female Beauxbatons students and commiserated with them over Snape's attitude. Then she brought them over to Harry, Ron and Ben, and introduced them. "This is Nicole and Marie, they're both sharing my room" Then she introduced Harry and Ron to the girls, explaining to Marie in halting French who they were. "I went to France on holiday once" she said when she saw Ron's surprised stare. "I knew learning the language would be useful."

***

They were eating lunch when Harry asked Ben about punk music. "You should come and see some bands play, Harry." was Ben's reply.

"I'm not sure, I don't know if I'd like it."

"You would, I promise."

"We wouldn't be able to get out and see them anyway, when we're in school."

"What about next week?"

"What's special about then?"

"Haven't you heard? It's the Ministry of Magic elections. Basically, it's an excuse for everyone to go and shout at the wizards who run it. Madame Maxime always used to let us go to the French ones, and she's convinced Professor Dumbledore to let our parents take us if they can get to London. I'll just have to convince my dad to take us to a gig instead."

"Do you think he'd do that?"

"I'm sure of it. I'll find out who's playing, then I'll send him an owl."

A/N: More to come soon. Please tell me if you like it so far, I'm not sure about this one.


	2. Music and Revelations

The Fine Art of Falling:

The Fine Art of Falling (in Love):

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Chapter 2: Music and Revelations

A/N: I had to have a description of a punk gig in one of my stories, since they're such fun, it fitted nicely here. See what you think.

**

That was how Harry found himself standing in what Ben told him was one of the nicer music venues in London, surrounded by people who had hair in all colours of the rainbow, and waiting for the first band to come on. It was dark and smoky, and smelt of things he could only half identify, sweat and stale beer and weed. 

Harry looked at the place with undisguised mistrust. "I really don't think this is my sort of thing, Ben, I don't mind the music, but..." he trailed off.

"Relax and enjoy it, Harry, you need to go out and have some fun. We'll see some bands, chat some people up, and just relax. You should do it more often."

Harry paused for a moment to form his answer, and to watch a guy with a very tall mohawk go up to the bar."

"Do you think he's cute?" asked Ben, noticing his interest. Harry couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"No, it's just...his hair! I was wondering how he gets it like that. How do you think he sleeps with hair like that?"

"Why don't you go and ask him?"

"No way!"

"Why not? Come on, Harry, this is a punk gig. Hair like that is pretty normal."

"I know, I can see, I just can't quite believe it. "

"Well, believe, Harry. Welcome to the world of punk. We'll have you moshing and skanking like a regular in no time at all. The first band's just setting up, let's go and have a look."

They watched the band, which had trumpets and a trombone, and which Ben said was 'ska punk' whatever that was. The music was very fast and upbeat, not what Harry had been expecting. They watched from a little way back, not amongst the fans who were dancing in front of the stage, if you could call it dancing. It seemed to consist mainly of throwing yourself around and bashing into the person next to you as hard as possible. A few people were kicking their legs up in time to the music, and swinging their arms. In a break between songs, Ben explained that the people in front of them, were 'moshing' and 'skanking'. "We'll wait until the main band is on" he said.

"I don't know if I want to do that." said Harry, but the band had started up again, and Ben didn't hear him.

They stood back for the second band as well, but when before the third, Ben pulled Harry further forward, and said "We have to mosh for this one, they're really good. They're the last band, I'm pretty sure you'll like them. Don't worry about it, you'll be fine."

The band started before Harry could protest. Guitars pounding and the heart wrenching voice of the singer came from the speakers, as if they would take over the world. The crowd pushed forwards, and Harry was pulled away from Ben, trying to avoid the flailing elbows. He panicked, he couldn't see his friend, and he didn't think he'd be able to find him in the mass of people. 

He began to move with the music, it made it easier to avoid hitting people, although that was difficult, since he was crammed together with everyone else. It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. It was friendly, somehow, as if he was sharing the experience with everyone around him. He worried about Ben, though, he didn't know where he was. 

The band went into a new song. Harry couldn't hear the words, but he could hear the anger and desperation in them. Suddenly something made sense to him. Whoever had written the song understood what he was feeling now. 

He wanted to find Ben because he liked seeing him, and he didn't like feeling like this.

He liked Ben. He missed Ben. 

He was attracted to Ben. 

Damn. Not again.

Harry let the crowd sway him forward, hardly able to believe what he had just realised. He was attracted to another guy. To his friend. It had happened before, but he had always managed to hide it under a veil of aggression, of hate. An image of blond hair and a mocking smile was all he could see for a moment, then his vision cleared. 

He fought his way out of the crowd and watched the rest of the gig from further back, where people were watching, not just dancing. He felt alone, as if this realisation meant he could no longer be friends with Ben. 

He found Ben when the music had finished. He looked hot and sweaty, and Harry realised, even more attractive. He could only nod when Ben asked him if he had enjoyed himself, and they wandered out together into the night to find Ben's father, and the way home.

***

It was now or never. If he didn't own up to his feelings today, right now, he never would, then he'd be left with a feeling of regret all his life. Harry had decided that this was the best thing to do, to clear the air. It had been a few weeks since the gig, and he still felt uncomfortable. He took a deep breath and let it out, letting the slow motion calm him and stop his instinctually nervous response.

He couldn't tell him here. There were too many people around. Luckily the weather had cleared up, so he invited Ben out for a walk by the lake. He wasn't sure if they were actually allowed out there at the moment, but it would be more private than the Griffindor tower.

They walked for a while, chatting about inconsequential things, then they both stopped by the edge of the lake, on a stony patch of ground, where the water came almost to their feet. Harry decided that now was a good a time as any.

"Ben, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, about what?"

"Well, I've been.. I mean I think I ... err.." he'd had this so well worked out, but now it sounded stupid, and he couldn't find the words. He looked up at Ben and saw the other boy looking at him with a worried look on his face.

"Umm, Harry, before you say anything, there's something I have to say first. I don't tell many people this, but I think I should tell you. You see, my background isn't pure wizard."

"I don't care about that." interrupted Harry, but Ben continued.

"I'm not saying that I've got muggle blood, I've got some Veela blood in me." Harry looked at him, wondering where this was heading. "That means that quite often I get people becoming attracted to me more than they would usually."

Harry sighed with relief, or something less straightforward "So the feelings I've had for you aren't real, then? I'm not gay or anything?"

"Actually, Harry, the Veela part of me only magnifies feelings, it doesn't invent them. I couldn't have made you gay Harry, you had the possibility of being attracted to guys there in the first place, I was just one of them. I told you this because I thought you might want to tell me that you liked me, and I didn't want you to be too offended that I don't feel that way about you. You're a great mate, Harry, and a brilliant guy, but there's a girl I'm seeing in Beauxbatons. She's not here, she got sent to Durmstrong, most of my friends got sent there."

Harry nodded, his eyes scanning the lake rather than looking at Ben. "What's her name?"

"Claire." Harry nodded again, still not looking in Ben's direction "Don't feel bad about your sexuality, Harry, it's not like it's anything to be ashamed of. So, you like guys? So what?"

"I suppose so" said Harry, turning back to Ben. 

"There must have been someone else. Before me, I mean." Ben watched as Harry threw a stone into the lake, and stared at the ripples it made that spread out and came lapping at the shore.

"There kind of was. Well, kind of is. He's..." He stopped and sighed, shaking his head, and picking up another stone. "Doesn't matter."

"Come on, Harry, I've just told you all about my life, you owe me one. I won't tell anyone, promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, pull it out and eat it." Ben intoned, mock solemnly. "I won't tell Harry."

"You'd better not. I got really good at curses last year, and I'll try them all out on you if you do. You see, it's" he lowered his voice "Draco Malfoy"

Harry looked up at Ben, and was surprised that he didn't look too surprised. "What's wrong with Draco?" he asked "he's cute"

"You obviously haven't spent more than five minutes around him. He's arrogant, his parents are Death eaters, and he hates me." 

"Maybe, but I can't help thinking that perhaps he's not that bad."

"What are you talking about? He hates muggles and people with muggle blood! The guy's basically a death eater himself!"

"I'm not saying he's not, I'm just saying to look at it from his point of view for a bit. He's been told all his life that muggles are beneath him, you were brought up as one. You can't expect him to go against what he's been taught if no one teaches him any different. I'm not saying that you could definitely change him or anything, I'm just saying not to write him off. He hasn't actually joined the death eaters yet, has he?"

"No, but his father's one of their major supporters. I heard him talking about muggle torture as if it were a sport! I want him to be able to change, but I don't know if he'll be able to. I wish I could believe that he was so different from his father, but from what I know about him, I don't think he is."

"Watch him more closely, Harry. You've been looking at him and thinking of all the years of fights and anger and stuff you've had between you. Have another look. No one's that bad, believe me Harry. If he's really that nasty, then he must have a good reason for it. He's been perfectly alright to me. Yes, I agree, he seems to go out of his way to annoy you, but perhaps that's just to hide something else."

"Something else? You mean something worse?"

"I was thinking that he might be attracted to you, but just didn't want to admit it."

Harry stared at him, not able to believe what he had just heard. "Attracted to me? Are you crazy?!"


	3. Secrets known and kept

The Fine Art of Falling

The Fine Art of Falling

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Chapter 3: Secrets known and kept 

Harry was dreading the next time he saw Draco. He felt like now he had admitted his attraction, it would be obvious to everyone else, as if there was some visable sign saying 'I'm attracted to Draco Malfoy' on his back.

Ben was no help, he kept dropping hints, and teasing Harry whenever they were alone about Draco. "I think you and he would make a really nice couple" he said once, almost causing Harry to hit him. The stern looks Harry kept shooting Ben to stop him saying anything gained him some puzled looks of his own from Ron.

Unfortunately for Harry, Draco walked past them after dinner, and couldn't resist the chance to say something nasty. He was about to say something, when Ben butted in.

"Do you fancy Harry, Draco?"

"What?" Harry couldn't believe it. Draco actually blushed, and quickly walked away, not even denying it. Harry instinctually looked around, but most people had already gone, and only Ron and Hermione had heard what Ben had said. 

"What was all that about?" asked Ron, and it was Harry's turn to blush. He shot a furious look in Ben's direction, who responded with raised eyebrows, and an I-told-you-so grin.

"We'll tell you when we get back to the common room said Ben, as Harry was too flustered to talk. "We'd better find somewhere where no-one can overhear us, though, I don't think Harry would be very pleased if they did."

When they got back to the common room it was mostly empty, so they went to the corner, and Ben told them in low voices about Harry's crush on Draco. Harry refused to say anything, but when he realised his friends weren't condemning him, they were just surprised, he relaxed, and admitted that yes, he did feel something for Draco.

"I told Harry that I thought Draco felt the same way about him" said Ben. "That's why I said what I did this evening. I wanted to prove my suspicion right. I think it worked, don't you?"

"I don't know, he could just have been confused" said Hermione, "why do you feel that way about Draco Malfoy anyway, Harry? When has he ever even been nice to you?"

"He hasn't, Herm, I really don't know why I feel like this either. I can't explain it, it just happened. Believe me, I wish it was anyone else."

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about it. You fall for who you fall for, and that's it." said Ben, philosophically. "We might as well help Harry out."

Hermione reluctantly agreed, and Ron didn't say anything, because he didn't want to loose Harry's frindship over this although he really couldn't understand it. He hated Draco Malfoy, and didn't see how anyone could feel anything different. He trusted Harry, though, so he decided to think it over later. They all decided that there was nothing that they could do about any of it then, and that they might as well sleep on it, and see what ideas the morning brought.

What they didn't know was that Draco would beat them to it.

**

After breakfast the next morning they were all in a hurry to get to their lessons. Ron and Harry were going to Divination, and they knew from experience how long it took to get to the classroom, so they thought they'd start early. That meant they hadn't had time to have another meeting as to what they were going to do, but thoughts of Draco's face the day before were taking up Harry's mind, and he didn't realise that he had fallen behind Ron and the others, and he was alone in the coridoor.

Draco Malfoy, however, did realise that Harry was alone, or almost alone except for him. He decided that this would be the best time to confront Harry about what Ben had said the day before, when neither of them had their friends around to embarrass them, or to be embarrassed in front of.

Draco strode up to Harry, and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him around. "What on earth was your friend talking about yesterday, Potter?"

"You seemed to understand it very well then, _Draco_, and I didn't see you complaining at the time."

"Yes, well, maybe I was just too shocked about the thought of ever fancying you, Potter."

Harry had had enough. He didn't want to argue this one "Yes, well, maybe you were, or maybe you do have a secret crush on me, we'll probably never know, because you don't seem to be able to tell the truth if you life depends on it. You know what? If you weren't so bloody attractive, I would have given up bothering to even hate you years ago. You don't even seem to be able to tell yourself the truth."

"You want to know the _truth_? The truth is that yes, I _do_ fancy you, Harry Potter, but I know I could never be good enough for the Boy who Lived, so I didn't even bother trying to tell you. Like you said, you hate me anyway, so it'd just give you more amuntion. Well, there you have it. Happy now?"

Harry stood looking at him in shock. It was a few minutes before he collected his scattered thoughts enough to say, "Yes, Draco, I am happy. And no, I don't hate you. If you must know, I feel the same way about you."

Draco stared at him for a long hile, then his lips curved into his familiar smirk. "We are idiots, aren't we."

Harry couldn't help but reply with a smile of his own "Yes, we are." then he was called suddenly back to where they were "Oh no, I'm going to be late for class. I hate to call attention to myself in Divination, I get enough predictions of doom already. Look, Draco, I'm sorry about this, but we've really got to talk about it. Do you want to meet by the Quiddich pitches this evening?"

"Sure. I expect I'll be able to get away after dinner. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see you. Thanks Draco."

"No problem." They walked away, both pausing to look back, and catching each other doing the same. Harry gave Draco a nod, and then turned his back for a final time, and headed determinedly off to his classroom. Draco shook his head amazedly, and then did the same.

**

Ron caught Harry's grin and improved, if slightly incredulous, mood, but couldn't ask about it in case they were both caught by one of Professor Trelawny's more alret moods. By the time the class had ended (and Harry's death had been predicted three times, once by fire and twice by drowning) Ron was desperate to know what had happened. Harry wouldn't tell him after class either because of all the people around them. He was finding it quite nice to have a secret to keep, and he wanted to keep Draco's words to himself for a while. 

Their Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year was exciting as usual, and Ron was too distracted by the class to think about it too much. Stll, Harry found it hard to drag his thoughts into the lesson, they kept being distracted by images of Draco, or niggling doubts. What if Harry was lying to him, just to set him up for some sort of humiliation later on? It wouldn't be unlike the Draco he knew to do that. Then again, he had seemed sincere. 

Ron had to elbow Harry in the stomach to bring him back to the class, and luckily he did so just before their homework was set, so Harry had some idea what it was. He had missed most of the lesson, though, so he'd have to get Ron to tell him about what they had done. He needed to sort this out first, though, otherwise he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else.

"OK, Harry, you have to tell me what's going on. You were so out of it that lesson that I even saw Malfoy staring at you. You know, Ben might be right about that, he looked a bit worried. He might have just been thinking up some more insulting things to say. So, what's up?"

"I'll tell you after lunch when the others are here" said Harry, sighing to think of the rest of the day that he had ahead of him. He reall couldn't be bothered with school this morning. He didn't think Madam Pomfrey would believe that he wasn't feeling well, so he supposed that he'd have to go to lessons.

That was the bad thing about school. Not that there were, as Ron could tell you, too many good things about school, but having to go to lesson when you didn't feel like it was one of the worst things. Harry usually didn't mind lessons. He just saw them as a kind of payment for being in this place which was heaven compared to the Dursleys'. Even being in Potions was better than being there. Well, most of the time.

Today, though, lessons seemed to be dragging on longer than usual. The clock had slowed down, or decided to put twice as many seconds in every minute it seemed, because things were going so slowly. 

The thought of Draco sitting in lesson with him was a form of torture that had to be illegal in most Europen countries. He wanted to look at him, to stare at him and try and see what he was thinking, whether he meant it, whether he was staring back. He couldn't of course, because the teachers would notice, and worse than that, everyone else would notice and ask him about it. He couldn't have thought up a good excuse for staring at Draco Malfoy even if his brain hadn't been turned to mush by recent events.

Lunch that day was as nice as usual, but none of them were inclined to linger over it, because they realised that something had happened from Harry and Ron's manners. Ron was looking impatient and glancing often at Harry, wheras Harry himself was staring off into space with a pensive look on his face. Ben tried without success to break him out of his mood, but he wasn't any more sucessful than Ron in getting answers. "I'll tell you after lunch" was all he would say.

Hermione was sitting further down, talking to her roommates, so she wasn't involved in the conversations, short as they wetre, but that didn't stop her seeing Harry's absent look, or Ron and Ben's increasing frustration. She even declined an invitation to study in the library with Nicole, as she wanted to know what was going on as much as the others. Her curiosity was only stimulated further by the looks she saw Draco Malfoy giving Harry during lunch. Harry didn't catch many of them, but that didn't stop him spending a while staring at Draco too, looking as if he was trying to work out a problem, but the solution was evading him.


End file.
